Minutes 3.1.17/Agenda 3.8.17
Post date: Mar 8, 2017 2:23:37 AM
Agenda 3.8.17
Approval of Minutes
Reports
Notes and New Business
Council Minutes 3.1.17
“The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they’ve found it.” - Terry Pratchett
Approval of Minutes
Reports
A-Mod: Next meeting is when we have spectators so all committees should meet and be prepared to give a detailed description of your committee and projects.
Secretary: Senior, Sophomore, and Freshmen alternates can vote.
DSB: Discussed budget presentations in preparation for Town Meeting Day.
Curric: Looked at results from the survey
SL: Met with Mr. Stokoe to talk about the new space and new class for next year
SAC: Discussed positive reactions to Winter Carnival
OEC: Handbook edits
Service Committee: Created a form for the validation of community service hours that students can take to any non profit and then a spreadsheet for the recording of the hours by Common Ground. This form is automatically linked to total up and color coded to make it easier to read. Also drafted new wording if it gets referred
Community Service Graduation Requirement
Motion to refer to the Service Committee
A referral will mean that the committee will bring the motion, with the new wording where Common Grounds track the hours, to the staff meeting and then return with that wording but there is some good material and we should talk about this new wording. A referral will not mean an overhaul of the motion
We should get the input from the staff
This can go to a staff meeting without being referred
Motion Fails
I move to amend the “Community Service” section of the motion to read: “Each student is required to participate in at least 10 hours of community service per full year of HHS attendance. 1. The hours are tracked and approved by Common Ground teachers on Google Sheet documents. 2. The 10 hours can be any combination of the following two options: Any service organized by Youth In Action.,And/or any service for outside nonprofit organizations. 3. All hours for the official nonprofit organization need to be recorded and approved. To do so, Community Service Validation Forms will be available in Common Grounds. 4.Any student who is not fully enrolled in HHS will not be held responsible for this requirement. 5.All service done over the summer will be recorded for the next academic year of HHS attendance. 5. At the end of each academic year, noncompliant students will be sent to Administration. HHS defines community service as any unpaid, voluntary work which directly benefits a nonprofit organization. Service can include volunteering, fundraising, raising awareness, or official mentoring. It can be organized by Youth In Action or other external platforms, such as: clubs, common grounds, March Intensives, teams, other extracurriculars, or programs unaffiliated with HHS. Common Ground teachers use the above definition to judge the validity of Community Service Validation Forms.”
There was a concern that YIA is not affiliated with the school officially and we didn’t want to put the tracking on them. This creates additional yearly responsibilities for the Service Ad Hoc Committee of combining CG hours with YIA hours and also making the CG forms each year so the committee may need to become more permanent
This should take very little time every week in CG but staff would require training
Motion Passes
The clause about fully enrolled students is not clear for students who are fully enrolled for a semester and then not fully enrolled for another semester when they are away at a semester program
Non-compliant students would go through the same Administration process that is currently used for students who are missing a credit for example
Only official nonprofits count under the Common Ground hours and that does not include all possible services
The service committee duties could maybe be wrapped into another committee
There would be training for teachers but ultimately that is a judgement call
YIA is willing to include something like Green Up Day or Tutoring and the service hours could be counted in that way
Maybe a point could be added that YIA is the place for students to propose service not through a nonprofit and make final decisions on the validity of service
CG teachers can easily go online and see if an organization has 503C status and that makes it easy for staff to check if it is a nonprofit
Years ago all the forms were counted in Guidance that overburdened them rather than the forms being spread out across staff
There are camps that are not a nonprofit but are serviced based and to have those counted, YIA would have to sanction it
Large dissent against this motion in CG
This could create interesting dialogue in CG about what everyone is doing to get their service and make CG a more valuable experience
If all 700 students are responsible for 10 hours and local nonprofits might not be equipped to handle this so it could just be for the incoming freshmen class to phase it in and make an easier transition, then the current incoming freshmen and the class behind them next year. This would also give us a chance to educate students about service to make sure the high school is represented in the community in P.E. or Civitas.
Council is accountable for our decisions and we must live under our decisions and we should not and cannot pass something that will affect none of us because it undermines Council’s role as the voice of the school
The definition of service is too narrow and that is going to create a flood to the local nonprofit organizations which may create problems because most people at the school have integrity not to dupe the system
Having it only apply to the freshmen could create resentment that would be reflected in the quality of the service
Could we have this apply to the incoming freshmen and Council members so that Council members service as a role model for the requirement and lead by example
Meeting Adjourned